


Late Night Fight

by pinkdrinksandmusic



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-08-03 04:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16318949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkdrinksandmusic/pseuds/pinkdrinksandmusic
Summary: Laurent experiences his first big fight with Damen after being a couple.





	Late Night Fight

_“Where are you going?”_

_“Out.”_

Damen had said it without looking at him, his tone detached in a way that had Laurent’s chest feel as if it was caving in on itself. As the door shut, Laurent grabbed the pillow from Damen’s side of the bed and threw it at the door. The way the pillow fell softly and silently pissed him off. He wanted to break something, to throw a table or a chair, but instead he forced himself to stay still. He tried to focus on his breathing, closing his eyes tightly. His hands curled into fists, tight enough that his nails pressed into his skin.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that, but the anger he felt slowly started to transform into other things: guilt, remorse, and _pain_.

It came with the simple realization: Damen had never walked out on him before.

They were the same in so many ways, but they were still different people who grew up in opposing countries with vastly different cultures and even beyond that…they didn’t always see things in the same way. Not to mention their history wasn’t ideal. Usually Laurent cherished their differences and accepted their past, but today they exploded on them.

This was the first big fight they’d had since officially getting together. It wasn’t as bad as what they went through before getting together, but the fact that they were together somehow made it worse.

He fell on the bed and covered his eyes.

He did this. He was chasing Damen away. Damen left because he couldn’t stand him long enough to work through this. Maybe he was getting tired. Maybe he was starting to realize Laurent was just too difficult to handle.

At the same time he told himself that that wasn’t true. They were tired, stressed beyond all reason, and had been stepping on each other’s toes all week. He knew it wasn’t just him. Damen was getting some heat from certain prior slave owners. His own past in Vere had been brought up multiple times in the week. His relationship with Laurent and the power dynamics in it were being questioned. There were certain older men refusing to see their relationship as one between equals. Damen had been struggling to contain his anger, but it was his natural response. Laurent knew all of that.

It still didn’t stop the little voice in his head telling him he was fucking up what ended up being the best thing to ever happen to him.

He sat up in bed, hands gripping the edge. He wanted to go after him, but when he thought about what he would say he knew he would just get mad once he saw him and tear into him about being a fucking coward.

He closed his eyes and breathed again.

Finally he stood up and undressed for bed. He left his under shirt on and got under the covers. It felt strange. Then he realized it was because he couldn’t remember the last time he had gone to bed by himself, let alone undressing himself and wearing anything. Damen had taken it upon himself to attend to Laurent, undressing him, usually accompanied by slow kisses and wandering hands. Even if nothing came out of it, Damen always showered him with gentle love making, even if it was just in the form of words. They would lay together, their bodies bare and touching.

To go to bed without that left him feeling empty and numb.

It wasn’t until he was under the covers that he realized he was in the middle of the bed, facing Damen’s side. He ran his hand over the cool sheets. The bed felt different without Damen’s weight making it dip. It felt colder without Damen’s body heat close enough to him to feel. The room was too quiet without Damen’s shifts and little noises. The smell of the sheets was clean and fresh, rather than the familiar smell of Damen.

The more time passed, the more his anger went away, the more he started to long for his husband to come back to their room.

But the night was quiet. Soon his eyes were closing and he was drifting. Not able to fully go to sleep but not fully conscious anymore either. His mind was too awake and full, but his body was beyond exhausted. He had only been getting maybe three to four hours of sleep lately. He felt sick with how tired he was.

Was Damen going to sleep elsewhere? He never had. No matter how much Laurent annoyed him, they always went to bed together.

_I fucked up, I fucked up…_

But then his mind started to drift over to: _Damen fucked up, he fucked up._ Damen was the one who left. Damen was the one who left Laurent alone in his insecurity and anger before working through it.

 _“I just need some air.”_ That was what Damen usually said when they fought and he had to leave, and even then, it was never for this long. He was back within the hour. He never spent an entire night away.

Laurent’s heart felt heavy and he resented Damen in that moment.

_“Laurent, I would never hurt you.”_

Right.

Eventually Laurent fell into a light, half sleep. He often found himself waking up, or at least he thought he was waking up, and he would be wide awake and alert. Each time his eyes immediately went to Damen’s side of the bed, his heart clenching harder every time he saw it empty. As if to hurt himself further, he reached over and felt that the spot was still cold.

Damen didn’t come back.

He had no concept of time or how much of it had passed.

Laurent woke up for the fifth time to the sound of something. Or at least, he thought he heard something. He sat up in bed and looked around, but saw nothing and no one. Grabbing a pair of trousers, loosely lacing them only enough to keep them on, Laurent got up and went immediately to the balcony, where he saw Damen’s back. His arms were resting on the railing and he was slouched over with his head down.

Laurent stood there and wondered if he should just go to bed. He could feel some of his earlier anger coming back up, inflamed by the knowledge that Damen had left him alone for so long before bed, breaking one of their rules.

They never went to bed angry with each other. They never left each other alone with their anger unless specifically asked for it. They didn’t stay away long enough for the other to go to bed alone.

Laurent pushed through the doors, watched Damen take a deep breath, and turn to him.

“You took your time,” was all Laurent said.

“You went to bed.”

Irritation bubbled up. “You left in the middle of the night. Was I not supposed to sleep?”

Damen went to sit heavily at the small round table, the chair’s legs made a noise from the movement on the marble. The flowers on the table were closed for the night.

“I came back. I wasn’t going to sleep before we…” Damen stopped to drag a hand over his tired face.

Something about seeing how exhausted Damen was softened something inside of him. Laurent closed his eyes and assessed. Damen had a short temper. They were together now, had been for awhile, and this was their first big fight as a couple. Damen wouldn’t punch him when he crossed the line now. Laurent wouldn’t challenge him to a sword fight and throw sand in his face. They were past that. They had to figure out another way to deal with their anger when the other crossed a line.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Laurent said, taking the first step to resolving this.

And then they talked. Eventually, Laurent sat down at the table across from Damen. They each gave each other a turn to get their points across and to feel heard, both having felt the other had crossed the line somewhere. Apologies were made. Damen reached out for Laurent’s hand and kissed his knuckles, drawn to Laurent by something in his tone Laurent himself couldn’t hear.

After, Damen sat back with his legs spread and Laurent went to him, stepping between them and pulling Damen close to him in an embrace. Damen’s arms wound around him and Laurent wrapped one arm around his shoulders while his other hand tangled in his curls and massaged his scalp. Damen’s face was buried against him, inhaling deeply.

“I’m sorry I left so late in the night…and for so long. That I left you to go to bed alone and angry.”

“I couldn’t sleep. Not really.”

The fight out of them, Laurent found himself feeling even more exhausted than before, but also just as unwilling to go to bed. He just wanted to hold Damen and hear his voice and keep talking, but his mind was in such a fog from exhaustion that he had nothing to say.

“I didn’t mean to be away for so long. I lost track of the time. It just felt like minutes but when I came back I realized it had been hours.”

Damen turned his head a little so that his cheek was pressed to Laurent’s torso.

“Don’t fall asleep now. I can’t hold you up,” Laurent said softly, forcing himself to pull away from him. Damen let him go, but didn’t straighten. His elbows were on his knees.

“This week has been,” Damen stopped and ran his hands over his face. It was a habit, something he did when he was stressed, frustrated, upset, or exhausted.

“I know,” Laurent said. This week had been nothing but stress for them both. Nonstop work that wouldn’t end, because they were kings. Victories were short lived, because something else always came up immediately after they worked through anything.

But at least they had this. When they overcame something in their relationship, they could let themselves feel that. Fights didn’t happen often between them. They had become so in tuned with each other. They had gotten through this fight together, and another fight was bound to happen, but not right away, not for awhile, and it was sure to not be as big. A little spat perhaps.

The anger was gone and Laurent felt proud of them, of what they had. It survived this fight, it survived their past, it would survive anything.

Damen hadn’t left him to spend the night alone. He was here now, he was going to go to bed with him, their fight resolved.

Laurent wanted to hold him, to touch him, kiss him, but he knew what Damen needed and held out his hand.

“Let’s go to bed.”

Damen nodded, his movements sluggish. He took Laurent hand, but got up mostly on his own, with Laurent just giving him a little tug. They walked to bed and undressed each other. Laurent wanted nothing more than to feel Damen’s bare body against his, with nothing between them.

Their bodies tangled under the sheets and Laurent felt the familiar weight of Damen on him. His arm over Laurent’s middle and his cheek pressed against his chest. Laurent welcomed it.

“We’ll reschedule tomorrow. The morning will be just ours. It’s been too long since it has been.”

Damen didn’t say anything, already half asleep, just nodded against him.

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to write out what their fight was, but decided it wasn't important. What I wanted to write was just Laurent's feelings over having Damen walk out to clear his head and get some space, and the importance of not going to bed angry and working things out before then.


End file.
